Mandya: The more than 200 years old Navasara Hanuman temple, believed to have been built by 18th century Mysuru king, Tipu Sultan, on the busy Mysuru-Bengaluru highway, is being relocated for road widening by the NHAI.
A senior NHAI official told Deccan Chronicle on Thursday that the authority would pay the Muzarai department for shifting of temple. No decision has, however, been taken on the new location.
Legend has it that the temple was built by Tipu Sultan at the request of his second wife, who was a Hindu. She reportedly wanted Tipu to worship at the temple before travelling to Srirangapatna to fight against the British. The temple with a 5 ft.tall statue of Hanuman occupies two guntas of land along the highway. It was recently given a facelift by the Muzrai department and is open for devotees between 7 am to 9 am every day. Alternatively, they suggest the temple should be shifted to a location nearby as there is vacant land belonging to the PWD in the vicinity.
The temple issue has come up coincidentally around the same time that the Karnataka government is studying the pros and cons of removing all references glorifying Tipu in the state's textbooks.
